Iran warned the West yesterday that attempts to broker a Lebanon peace deal at today's Rome summit were destined to fail - and predicted a backlash across the Muslim world unless Israel's military forces were immediately reined in.
Senior government officials said the exclusion from the summit of Iran, Syria and their Lebanese ally Hizbullah meant that no lasting settlement was possible.
Hamid Reza Asefi, the foreign ministry spokesman in Tehran, said: "They should have invited all the countries of the region, including Syria and Iran, if they want peace. How can you tackle these important issues without having representatives of all countries in the region?"
The Rome conference is to be attended by the US, Canada, Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Russia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, as well as the United Nations and the World Bank.
It is due to publish a statement setting out the broad outlines of a possible deal, including the injection of an international stabilisation force that Hizbullah rejected yesterday.
The US, Britain and Israel blame mainly Iran and, to a lesser extent, Syria for the bloodshed in Lebanon, claiming they supply missiles and money to Hizbullah, and say that Iran is seeking to deflect attention from UN moves to take punitive action over its nuclear programme.
However, Iranian officials say they suspect the Israeli action against Hizbullah could be a prelude to a US attack on Iran itself.
Mr Asefi said Iran was providing only "moral aid and moral support" to Hizbullah and wanted to help find a solution but was being excluded from international efforts.